My Boat Review: 1998 Ski NautiqueFor the most part, Joel has covered the TSC Ski Nautique well; actually, he covered it too well. There’s really not much need for this review other than to post some pictures and show off my ride. So I’m going to repost the pertinent parts of Joel’s review and add my take on it where appropriate.
Unlike Joel's review, I had skied the TSC2 (2002—2005) and TSC3 (2006—Present) Ski Nautiques several times before I ever skied the TSC hull. In fact, the first time I skied the TSC hull was when I test drove my boat. The conditions were terrible and so was my skiing. I didn’t love it right off the bat, but decided that the boat was in great condition, and if I gave it time, I’d surely see what all the fuss was about. In short, I made the right decision and within an outing or two, I totally got it. More on that later.
I had been a MasterCraft guy since my father in law bought a 1998 Pro Star 205 in 2002. By February 2003, I had a 1993 Pro Star 205. For the next four and a half years, I became a pretty well read MasterCraft owner, participating in the MasterCraft forum as well as the Nicholls water ski forum and PlanetNautique.com, themalibucrew.com, and the long gone skiboathelp.com. I did as much as I could to learn as much as I could about my MasterCraft as well as take steps to become a better skier. As my skiing improved, I gradually began to wish for a closed bow for its softer wakes (yes, I know there are open bows with great wakes), better cockpit view, and terrific handling, as well as the plethora of storage in the nose that I had given up for bow seating that I rarely used and resented using for a variety of reasons when we did have bow riders.
So after not investigating a red 1997 Ski Nautique in Dallas in 2006 and seeing it go for a relatively good price, when I saw this boat just north of Dallas (Plano) in 2007, I jumped. I got a good friend and fellow Nautique owner (G-Man on the PN forum) got check it out for me. George is a ski boat fanatic and has some of the cleanest boats I can name. When he called me after looking at it for an hour and was only talking about miniscule nicks on the hull and teak platform, I knew I had to get there and see this boat quick. The last thing he said to me was in answer of what he thought of the owner. “Doug,” he said, “If you lived here, you’d want to go skiing with him.” That was the kicker! I had it home in a matter of days and spent the next month trying to keep it somewhat a secret so that I could sell my MasterCraft without looking like a motivated seller.
Joel wrote:
Exterior:
This boat is pretty unique in that it has the 97-99 gel coat stripe and graphics on it rather than the big "N" stripe that debuted that year. As an aside, the "N" stripe usually generates polarized opinions but I personally think it looks awesome, so I wouldn't mind having it either way. I have only seen one other Ski Nautique of this year with these "retro" graphics. There may be more out there, but none that I have seen. The classy black and zeypher "Masters" color combo is timeless, understated, and classic. The lines of this boat, in my opinion, are complete perfection in how a ski boat should look. Short, tiny closed bow, small upright 2-piece windshield, and no-nonsense top deck design. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the "classic" Nautique looks can also generate polarized love/hate opinions. There's nothing "swoopy" or "sporty" about the design of a closed bow Ski Nautique, and that's the way I like it.Typical for 1998, my boat has the retro graphics. Not quite as typical, it has a white/silver cloud top stripe. Nearly every “red” boat I’ve seen of this vintage has a black top stripe. This was the first I’d seen with what I’d decided was my ideal color combination. A week after I purchased it, I saw a 99 at my local dealer with the same pattern and another 99 on Planet Nautique a week after that. So much for one of a kind. The red rub rail insert is a nice touch. Like Joel mentioned, there’s no mistaking this boat for any other brand. The lines are classic and for me, were exactly what I wanted. Within the first couple of weeks, I’d had it professionally buffed out. By the next spring, I had the side graphics replaced as well as the pin striping replaced, which I changed from black to silver flake. When my local Nautique mechanic removed the old graphics, he didn’t even want to buff the ghosting because the original gel coat still had some “orange peel” to it.
Joel wrote:
Interior:
The fit, finish, and quality of this interior are second to none. The interior space is tight, though. Correct Craft uses a canoe-style hull design with zero lifting strakes on this hull (and future hulls)- I'm assuming this design is utilized to keep more hull in the water and generate the on-rails tracking ability of this boat. One of the negatives of this hull design in my opinion is that interior space definitely suffers. With 3 or 4 skiers and all of our gear, the boat fills up very quickly. The length of the interior is terrific due to having the cockpit so far forward in the hull. I can lay my portable course down flat on the floor of this boat because of this. Most 2000 Ski Nautiques have a non-removable rear seat because the gas tank is under the seat to make room for a small storage area behind the rear seat. My boat doesn't have this feature, which is a total bonus. My rear seat is totally removable and sits in the garage attic all year. When the rear seat is in the boat, the middle cushion can be flipped over to make a little step for skiers to get to and from the transom. Great idea- Correct Craft has been doing this since 1993. The upholstery is very high-quality and the foam padding is still firm and supportive. The driver's seat is extremely comfortable. The driving position is top notch on this boat. The driver gets a clear view through the upright, functional 2-piece windshield and can see clearly over the minimal closed bow. The throttle and steering wheel are right where they should be. The dash is 100% push-button, with soft touch rubber buttons controlling all electronic accessories on the boat. The dash still looks completely modern, even 10 years after it was designed. Classy woodgrain trim surrounds all of the controls and gauges. Speaking of the gauges, it's a known fact that the 2000-2002 CC tach and speedo gauges are terrible at best. Mine have been replaced twice, but according to the service records the ones I currently have in the boat have been holding on just fine since 2003. I have a spare set of NOS gauges in case these ever decide to take a hike. Kudos to CC for trying to get into electronic gauges early, at least. All of the soft-touch buttons have backlighting behind them so the dash looks really, really cool at night. I think this is about as handsome of a dash as you could possibly ask for on a boat of any age. Courtesy lights also illuminate the gunwhales and bow storage area if needed. I love the two-piece clamshell motorbox. It's another little extra touch that CC has had since 1995 that I really appreciate. When my boat is loaded to the gills with gear, I can quickly pop open the top of the motorbox without having all of the gear or ropes flop into the motorbox area. This is great for putting in the plug at the ramp or checking on something under the hood as an overly zealous ski boat owner like me does often. I can't tell you how useful this feature is, especially with the portable course in the boat. This boat has dual cigarette lighter outlets- one in the dash and one in the nicely molded and vinyl-clad side console. The side console also has room for 5 more small gauges (I have a clock, depth finder, and air/water temp gauge in mine) and also houses the Clarion factory cd player.
I love the interior on this boat. Having come from an early 90’s boat, I don't find it to be cramped at all. The Nautique is a few inches wider than my old MasterCraft. That, combined with the fact that the motor is dropped down into the bilge a bit and the open gunwhale storage makes for a very wide feel. As for lifting strakes, Joel is correct that there are none on the TSC hull. I believe they had strakes on the TSC2 hull, which were removed for the TSC3. Storage, apart from the spacious area under the bow is much improved by wide open gunwhale combing pads. I don’t even bother taking my rear seat out since I store lots of mooring ropes, etc. under the left and right seat. Skis easily fit behind the driver’s seat. Gloves dry in the cargo net on the rear of the motor box. The glove box is great and spacious. I’ve used it for a cooler and for dry storage. The floor cooler is quite large, but doesn’t do well at keeping things cold since it is bilge adjacent and uninsulated. I usually just drop a soft cooler in there. The dash pod is easily removed with four thumb screws (long story as to why I had to do that on the first outing). One thing I wish I could add is the side molding that began with the 2000 model that moves the right-front speaker from the kick panel to the driver’s lower right along with extra gauges and storage/stereo. The driver’s seat is comfortable and the view is unrivaled in this era of longer, open bow ski boats.
The only changes for 1998 of which I’m aware are the down swing tachometer and the different motorbox shape. I, too, like the clam shell for the fact that my gear doesn’t end up in the bilge. I find the plug a bit hard to reach without contorting my arm, but I’ve gotten used to it. The spark plugs are much more accessible than on my old Indmar 351. Most everything is fairly accessible as well with the exception of the manifold drain plugs, which required a specific box wrench to remove. My gauges are Airguide, though one has since been removed to accommodate a Perfect Pass SG display. Finally, I thought it was a really nice touch that I could order a personalized dash plate for my new-to-me ten year old boat. The previous two owners hadn’t added one. So mine was the first.
Joel wrote:
Storage:
This boat features a huge in-dash cooler/glove compartment. It's big enough to stuff with tons of clothes, sweatshirts, cameras, etc. It's certainly the biggest glovebox I've seen on any ski boat. Each side of the glove box has drains which are neatly plumbed to drain into the bilge in case you want to use either side of the glovebox as a cooler. There is also a floor cooler which is quite sizeable in front of the pylon. The entire observer seat lifts up to access the bow storage. I typically don't use this for day-to-day storage as it's a pain to ask people to get up and move out of the way so I can swing the whole thing open. It is nice that the whole seat gullwings upward rather than just the back hinging open like some other boats out there, but at the same time it can be a hassle to open this thing up on the lake. Other than that, the storage is the floor!
I’ve pretty well covered the coolers. Coming from an open bow boat that had a floor locker that, in my experience, doubled as a “live well” due to its propensity to fill up with water and storage under the observer seat that didn’t extend to underneath the bow seating. Add to that the combing pads were too narrow to accommodate a modern ski and the floors were extremely cramped. As a result, I completely embrace the under bow storage. I use it for anything that isn’t being used within the next twenty minutes or so. Another touch I liked was the cargo netting under the observer seat. I usually store my ropes here to keep then separate from the more dry stuff and to keep them from tangling.
Joel wrote:
Engine:
This boat has the PCM GT-40 310HP MPI engine. It's a 351W with GT40 heads and multiport injection. This engine has a reputation for being "bulletproof" and knock-on-wood mine has been no exception. It's got gobs of power and most would argue that this powerplant feels torquier than the newer Chevy-based mills. I do all my own maintenance on the boat and this motor has been a pleasure to work with so far. Every time I pull the spark plugs to fog the motor at the end of the season, the plugs all look identical and all look like they could go right back on the store shelf. The GT-40 also seems to be good on gas. I'm amazed at how rarely I have to fill it up all summer. With my Acme 422 4-blade prop I can get the boat up to 4950RPM at about 46MPH on smooth water with just me in the boat. The boat comes out of the hole nicely and I'd line up with just about any boat out of the hole other than a Sportster!With my MasterCraft, I became quite accustomed to working on a Ford with my 351 HO. With the GT-40, it was nice not to have to learn much more than a different plug gap. The locations of things from Indmar to PCM was unusual, but I picked it up quickly. The GT-40 is simply a gentle monster of an engine. The out of the hole power is perfect for skiing with the power just where you want it, especially when combined with the standard 1.23:1 gear reduction, which I never again want to be without, and the Acme 422. Shifting is smooth as is acceleration. One interesting thing about this engine is that it rumbles at 2,400 rpm and gets smooth and quiet at 3,400+ rpm. Whether by design or chance, what a perfect note for ski speeds.
Joel wrote:
Wake:
As I previously mentioned, I have yet to ski a TSC2 or TSC3 boat. However, I ski the new MC's every year at ski school and our club gets a new Malibu RLXi every year and this the best 15 off wake of the bunch (remember- 12 year old design). It's small and soft, and probably has actually hurt my wake cross position since it's so easy to cross. I can't tell you what the wakes are like at any other lengths vs. any other boats. I don't really have an opinion of the trick wake other than "it's fine" since the only trick I can do is to get up and ski around on a trick ski. The barefoot wake is not great by any means. It's frothy and unforgiving unless you stay strictly in the trough. Wake crosses? Forget it. I just butt out to the curl and hang tight. If you're looking for a barefoot boat, this is not the boat for you. However, the side spray is very minimal so the boat foots great from the boom.
Weight sensitivity:
This is my least favorite part of this boat. It is outrageously weight sensitive side-to-side. It doesn't seem to mind a full tank vs. half tank of gas- the gas level doesn't really alter the wake at all. However, if your passengers don't sit in the dead center of the spotter's seat the wake and spray will be uneven. If someone sits in the far corner of the spotter's seat, forget it. You'll get 10 foot spray off the port side of the boat. I've gotten spray at 15 off in extreme cases where the boat was very unbalanced. It's just heinously weight sensitive side to side. With just a driver and no spotter, the boat leans to the starboard side until it's at speed, where it evens out nicely. I really enjoy driving this boat without a spotter at all- it naturally balances out quite nicely when you're flying solo.As I mentioned previously, I didn’t love the wake behind this boat immediately. I’d skied the TSC2 and TSC3 previously and been hooked by them completely, especially the TSC2 (I’m not a trick skier, but I hear they’re less than impressed by the TSC2). Anyhow, the TSC took some getting used to for me. I still remember when it clicked for me. It was my third outing. My first had been the test drive. My second was with three adults and one child with me skiing. My third was just me with my wife driving and my two and a half year old asleep in the observer seat. I’d also just installed the Acme 422. Looking back, I know what it was. The first time was the horribly rough water on the big Dallas lake and the fact that I just wasn’t used to the wake. The second time was a bunch of people in the observer seat doing what feels most natural the way that seat is set up---sitting in the corner. At this point, I can sign get out of the corner from 60 feet back. You just can’t do it and have that buttery soft wake with this boat. The reverse rotation plus an adult all the way to the port side tips the boat off it’s intended axis. It’s tuned just so that this is too much. You can have two adults in the observer seat no problem. But they have to stay out of the corner. I now love the wakes behind this boat and can tell the difference at the longer line lengths and slower speeds I ski when compared to the 2006 Pro Star 197 that a member of our ski club uses. With the 93 Pro Star 205 and especially with the 1998 Pro Star 205, I found myself bracing slightly for the wake. With the 1998 Ski Nautique, it’s simply a non issue.
Here’s 32 mph, 34 mph, and 36 mph.
Joel wrote:
Handling:
I have the rudder trim tab (a SN standard since 1999) slightly tweeked in order to give the boat a leftward steering bias. If I were to let go of the wheel at speed, the boat would immediately start going in a circle. This makes the steering tight at speed and really helps lock the boat into the course. This boat does not have the "1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88" zero-effort steering of a Malibu at speed. I can swing our Malibu club boat in tight turns on both ends of the course with my pinkie, but this boat requires both hands in the turns mainly due to how tweeked my rudder trim tab is and how deep this boat sits in the water. However, Malibus "skid" a bit in turns, and this boat bites hard in turns. Is it better? Worse? I think it's just different. This boat is definitely stuck to the water like glue, for better or worse. If you look at the underside of this boat, you'll see all 3 tracking fins are in front of the pylon. Most ski boats have them directly under the engine. I'm no hydrodynamic engineer but I'm guessing that has something to do with the great tracking of this boat (a bigger lever?). I think this hull handles great around the docks although I've heard people say that the CC's are the worst around the docks. Personally, it's a non-issue for me- I think the low speed handling is fine.
Unfortunately, I do not have the tunable rudder like Joel. One of the previous owners filed it for neutral steering. This actually works well for me because I’m hooked on a right-hand pull, which is a bit counter productive when working against right hand rotation. I’m still filing and will probably move to grinding soon to get some good pole to the opposite side, but similar to what Joel describes. But even with light pull/neutral steering, the driving experience is unique in the best way. My wife gave it a full fledged “Wow!” on her first turn behind the wheel. As mentioned, the view from the driver’s seat is unparalleled. The tracking matches the proverbial freight train. The boat digs in the turns and seems to fight to hold a changing line. This is quite different from my old MasterCraft, which, even as an open bow, handled much like an old sports car with the rear being a little more loose. As far as driving in the course, it’s an easy boat to keep straight and I barely notice the skier pulling.
Joel Wrote
Overall:
This boat is a hoot to drive and it skis great. I think for 20K and under, there is no better boat out there from a skiing and driving perspective. The combination of the TSC hull and the GT-40 powerplant is a real home-run. These boats have as good a resale value as you could ask for, too. Space is definitely tight in the boat, so this is not the best all-day family cruiser by any means. It's not the best barefoot boat out there, either. For us, it's perfect. We trailer it to public water for early morning runs with 3-5 people and it works fine. We take it on vacation for about 2 weeks per year and it's wonderful there as well. It's easy to tow and store, and we love it!I hope this hasn't been too much of a duplicate of Joel's review. I feel like I’ve graduated! I absolutely loved my older MasterCraft. I’ve often said that had I wanted to stick with an open bow boat, I couldn’t have wanted for much more. But I’m loving my TSC Ski Nautique and am happily spoiled. I’m happy with it in the course and on open water in well. The ride in the chop is really smooth by comparison to my older boat or open bow MasterCraft of the same year. We’ll be keeping this one for a long time!
Long time 15 Off Skier. 1998 Ski Nautique/Acme 422/Perfect Pass SG
